Railways came to this area of the country quite early - the first was the horse-operated Hay railway which was in operation in 1816, and the first passenger steam railway (the London & Birmingham line) opened in 1838. This was followed by a rapid spread of small branch lines, many through very rural areas that could never have hoped to support them. Because so many of their lines were not commercially viable, both counties were hit hard by the cuts of the 1950s and '60s but there are still eight lines in service today.....